Eden's Gate
by blackbeaut
Summary: Mary comes to Hope County after her mother worryingly stops answering her calls. When she arrives, Mary is oddly welcomed by a fanatical cult and grabs the attention of the one they call...The Father. Joseph/OC
1. Prologue

So this is my first attempt at a Far Cry based story. I don't even think I've even tempted to write this type of work.

I don't know why but I really liked Joseph's character in the game/film, if anyone has seen Greg's interview, I kinda agree with him. But hopefully you'll enjoy this story; it will include all the other characters too.

 **Disclaimer: Not mine only my character Mary.**

Summary: Mary comes to Hope County after her mother worryingly stops answering her calls. When she arrives, Mary is oddly welcomed by a fanatical cult and grabs the attention of the one they call...The Father. Joseph/OC

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _Run._

 _Run_

 _Run faster._

Mary kept repeating these words over and over, barely able to hear them in her own head, due to how loud her heart was pounding. She was exhausted from running and she was terrified by what would happen to her if she stopped running.

 _Run. Run and don't you dare stop running._

She was running as fast as she could, weaving through thick tree trunks, trying to avoid the brambles that clawed at her clothes, tearing them and her soft flesh beneath them. It wasn't easy running through the forest. She was barefoot and the forest floor assaulted her feet with each step she took. Low hanging branches and twigs whipped at her body leaving behind stinging bruises. One had slapped her hard across the cheek, splitting the flesh along her cheek bone.

 _Run._

She had to escape, her life depended on it, but the roots of the trees that were hidden beneath fallen leaves kept tripping her up, sending her stumbling forward but she was always able to catch her footing.

 _Run!_

She was trying, but the soil beneath the rotting leaves that soiled her escape route was slippery. Everything seemed against her. She just had to get away, she just had to escape. She wasn't even sure she could fight. She was fast but she knew they was faster.

"We're close! Find her!"

 _They are everywhere._

She couldn't see them but she could feel that _he_ was close. She didn't dare turn around to see just how close, she just kept putting one foot in front of the other and moving as fast as she could.

 _He was behind her, somewhere in the ever growing darkness._

It was that thought that made her legs suddenly move a little quicker. But that didn't last as she had to quickly drop to the floor with her hands covering her head as best as they could. The gunshot that had made her drop to the floor, covering her head, echoed around her as bits of bark showered down on her form, from the thick tree that the bullet had burst into.

"I see her!" Jacob called out as he shone his flashlight onto a figure on the floor. Mary cursed herself for stopping and knew now, her escape was going to be even harder.

"Stop Jacob... _Mary_ come out now"

She knew that voice.

It was Joseph.

When he called out her name...it was so _angelic_ , he almost made her stop running full stop but she knew there was **no** turning back.

Mary pushed herself up and began moving forward again. She had barely put distance between herself and the gunshot tree when the front half of her bare foot hooked itself tight underneath the root of a tree. She fell forward and landed hard on her floor.

 _Pain hit her everywhere._

Her ankle screamed it, the flesh on her foot had been torn and ripped by the rough root. Her left wrist had been crushed awkwardly beneath her body and she was sure had suffered severe damage. Her ribs had smacked down against some more tree roots and the pain in them had winded her completely.

It took a minute but finally the air returned to her lungs and with a whimper, she attempted to push herself up, which resulted with pain that shot up her leg. Mary cried out and fell back down.

"I wouldn't move, if I was you." Joseph warned, making her freeze in place. To emphasise, she heard Jacob cock his gun with a grunt.

 _I was so close._

"Death is upon the world already Mary...let's not fight anymore." Joseph said to her as he watched her try to push herself again, but failed. _Again._

Mary cursed to herself but she knew she had to confront her defeat. Mary felt all eyes on her as she slowly turned around to face her captors. Jacob with the shotgun, John behind him and few other people that she recognised from the compound. _His followers._

"I told you what would happen, if you tried to escape," Jacob said matter-of-factly as he glared down at her, the rifle in his hands now pointing right at her face. But Mary chose to look at Joseph's face and not the barrel of the gun. Some part of her was telling herself to beg Joseph for forgiveness, tell him she would do anything if he would spare her a death on a cold forest floor. Another part of her wanted to get the hell out of this town and away from this cult. She knew that wasn't going to happen right now though. All she had left right now, all she had the energy for besides holding off passing out from pain, was words.

"You people are crazy." She spat at them. Joseph smiled at her before he looked up towards the sky for a moment before slowly walking towards Mary, in which she recoiled back.

"Do not fear me Mary." She turned her face away from Joseph, which made him grab her face and look her over, stroking her face gently. "You'll be cleansed from your sins and will join me in Eden's Gate."

"I'll never join _you_!" Mary spat at him.

"You already have," Joseph pointed out with a smirk and slowly moved towards her face. "I told you that God will not let you _leave_ me," Joseph said whispered softly before moving away from her. Mary was about to say something but Jacob connected the solid metal of the rifle against her head, knocking Mary unconscious.

"My children, Mary needs to be reminded of her purpose and her being here, is not by choice or by chance." Joseph said to his flock, before turning to Mary and carefully picked up her lifeless form. He brushed her hair back of her face. "She is the grace, chosen by God," He watched as blood that seeped from a wound made by being hit with the gun, trickle down her head in a slow stream.

"Come, let's begin the atonement," And Joseph carried Mary's form back to his compound, followed by his children.

* * *

 **TBC**

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you want more, if so I will carry on. Other chapter will be longer than this one. This chapter was just to offer a taste of what's to come.

 **Please review.**

\- R


	2. Hope County

**Wow, I didn't think people would review, favourite or even follow this story! Just want to say thank you for joining in...I'm replying back to each comment to show my ****appreciating** **:D**

 **This won't be a long story - it will be _at least_ 5 chapters.**

 **Let's keep going...enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1 - Hope County

 **2 months ago**

 _"Hi, this is Anne, I'm sorry I'm not here to lend an ear, so leave a word and you'll be heard."_

 _"Hi Momma, it's Mary...I guess you're at church but I just wanted to make sure you're all good? Tonight,_ _I'm going on this blind date that Jack set me up on… anyways I'll let you know if I'm still alive, byeeeee!"_

 **2 weeks ago**

 _"Is everything alright mom? I spoke to your neighbour and they said that you've been acting strange recently...I just want to know everything is ok, please call me back,"_

 **1 week ago**

 _"Momma, you know it's rude to not answer me back!...I'm kidding but I just wanna make sure you're all good, ok? Call me, bye"_

 **Present**

"Mom...this isn't funny now. Why ain't you picking up my calls? Is something wrong? Please just call me,"

A sigh left out of Mary's lips as she placed her phone on her kitchen top counter. She ran her fingers through ebony hair and glanced out of the window. There was something wrong and she didn't like it, not one bit.

Mary was born in Hope County and had a loving family, her mother Anne and her father Joachim loved her so much. There wasn't many black families in the town, however nobody was ever prejudice there. Everyone accepted each other, no matter what race or sexuality. Her parents both helped out with the church in the town and they was very well known, especially their 'little Mary'. She'd be in the choir, singing her heart out to the hymns, alongside her mother who played the piano, every Sunday. In the afternoons, Anne would make her famous dinner, Roast Chicken with a delicious stuffing that her father always contributed to. He said _it was a secret ingredient_ and when the time was right, he would share it his little Mary. Joachim would always leave their home and would come back within the hour, and pass something to her mother and she would just add it to her cooking.

But one fateful afternoon, her father didn't come back in that hour, instead they received a phone call that he had been in a fatal car accident. A fuel truck collided with her father truck and killed Joachim shortly after. The news spread around the town so fast, Anne didn't need to tell her neighbour. It affected the both of them, especially Mary, she stopped attending church and soon when she was old enough, she moved away to go to college in California. She's been living in her small apartment in Pasadena ever since.

Her ringtone broke her out of her thoughts and made her quickly dash to pick up her phone. "Mom?!"

"Mary." She scrunched up her slender eyebrows at the voice.

"Who's this?" Mary asked as she wasn't sure who it was. she switched her phone to the other ear, to make sure that she heard the voice correctly.

"You shouldn't be calling here," He sounded very concerned but Mary wasn't having it.

"Ho-where's my mom? What are you doing with her phone?" She asked, looking at her phone to see who was calling. It was her mom for the caller ID, but why is there a man on other end?

"It's better if you come here and see for yourself." It was definitely a male's voice, quite calm but Mary could sense a tremor in his voice.

"What do you mean? Is my mom alright?" Mary asked, letting her voice break for the man to hear. There was silent pause.

"Come to Hope County...meet me in The Spread Eagle bar and ask for Rye."

"Wait-" Before she could say anymore, the dial tone cut her off. _Who was that man on the phone?_ Mary was brought out of her thoughts when she heard someone come into the kitchen.

"Still not picking up?" Mary turned around to the voice that entered her kitchen, It was her good friend Jack, he was one of the first people she made friends with, moving to Cali. He looked at her face and his eyebrows furrowed. "Wait what's wrong?"

"I just got this weird phone call from this guy…" Mary started off to Jack.

"A guy…" Jack cut her off, raising his eyebrow amusingly, which she nodded to focused on the phone call she had.

"Yeah...but he was ringing from my mom's phone." Jack's eyebrows raised further at her. "I know, and I asked him where my mom was and he told me to just, come to Hope County to find out,"

"And...do you believe him?" Jack sat down at her breakfast table, looking at her. Mary let out a sigh before folding her arms in front of her.

"I don't know...no-maybe...it's just not like her to not call me back like ever. It's been weeks!" Mary started to pace in front of the counter. "I've tried everything." She paused. "I'm going up there."

"Woah, what do you mean you're going up there? You can't just up and leave here," Jack exclaimed as he walked up to her. Mary shook her head at him, nothing would change her mind.

"I'll only be there for a few days, I need to see if she's at least breathing. It's been years since I've seen her. After dad died I-" Jack quickly raise her finger at her, stopping her finishing her sentence.

"Hey its ok," Jack understood how much her mother meant to her and knew that her father was a touchy subject. He let out a breath before speaking up. "Look...ok, go and see your mom, but you call me as soon as you get there and when you're leaving ok. In fact I wanna hear your mother say hi to me," Mary let out a laugh as he teasingly ticked her stomach, making her smile.

"See, there's that smile I love to see, so graceful," He said moving a strand of her hair from her face. Jack would always come out with these weird comments, but she didn't take any notice to it. If Jack was showing his interest in her, she didn't feel that way about him.

"You're so weird, you know that?" Mary gave his nose a playful flick before walking past him. "I don't know why we're still friends." She teasingly said and stuck her tongue out at him as she walked out of the room to her bedroom to start packing.

"Yeah…" Jack trailed off, smiling till she went out of the room. The smile quickly turned thin as he turned around and quickly sent a text to an unknown number. Jack let a small smirk appear on his lips before tucking his phone into his pocket and following Mary to help her pack.

* * *

After a short flight, Mary managed to get a taxi from the airport to take her to the bar that 'Rye' told her to go to. She let her mind wander as she looked out of her window whilst she was travelling. She noticed the astounding countryside, the fields of green grass and the extraordinary white flowers. Lakes and mountains loomed in the distance, sometimes she had to remind herself why she left Hope County.

But in the distance, Mary spotted a statue of a man? She couldn't make out what he was holding but it was something else. _'What the-'_ she thought to herself.

"Excuse me sir...what's with the statue over there?" Mary said glancing at the driver. He looked over to that side of the car and smiled at her through the mirror before speaking.

"Oh, that is The Father, he is the preacher of this town." Mary warily nodded at him before glancing back at the statue.

"He must be really important to this town…" She trailed off softly looking at the statue but the driver heard her.

"Oh he is, he's helped the town so much, preparing us of what is to come" He said before turning his attention to the road.

"Does The Father have a name?" Mary asked but the driver only shook his head.

"That is for you to find out," She scrunched his face in confusion before ignoring the driver for the rest of the car journey. _Drivers can be so weird._

"Praise to him…" He said softly before looking back at Mary one last time.

* * *

Soon, her taxi was pulling up outside a bar, which the driver confirmed was the place. Mary gave her money and grabbed her bag, placing it over her shoulder before walking into the bar. The atmosphere of the bar compared to what she's used to, was completely different. It wasn't packed but it told what type of people that lived in this town. Farmers, bikers and just folks who came to unwind from their lives.

Mary glanced across the room before walking to the bar and taking a seat. Immediately, she was approached by a blonde woman.

"What can I get you?" She asked Mary, who looked around before speaking.

"Uh..can I just get some water please," The blonde woman made a face before carrying out her request. Mary moved a bit closer to her and spoke. "Also, I was wondering if you knew someone called 'Rye'?" The blonde woman eyebrows scrunched together as she took in the woman before her. But then her face widened as if recognition relieved her face of her confusion.

"It's you…" She whispered softly as she passed Mary her water. "Mary?" Mary looked at the woman before her, taking in her appearance. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes that flickered across her face. Mary looked at the woman before her and recognised her features.

 _Was this May? Mary May?_

"Wait Ma-" Mary couldn't finish her sentence as May quickly walked around the back. A minute later, the woman came back to her and waved her hand, ushering Mary closer to her.

"Just sit at that table and he'll come to you in 5," Mary turned to look where she pointed before she nodded. She made a move to go but felt a hand grab her arm, she turned and looked to see May looking at her with concern.

"You shouldn't have come here Mary," With that comment, she let Mary go before walking away to another individual to serve.

 _Nice to see you too._ Mary's face furrowed before she took her belongings and her water to the table. She took one last glance and saw that people was looking at her, but they quickly carried on with their business. She took a sip of her water before pulling out her phone, checking to see if she had any messages. She saw one from Jack and she was about to reply, when she felt a presence at the table.

"Mary...?"

She stared at the man before her."...you must be Rye?" He smiled softly at her before sitting down on the other side of the table.

"Actually, my name is Nick, Rye is my last name, have to be careful nowadays" As she watched him straighten out his clothes. He looked like he was a mechanic, with his cap and his red short-sleeve flannel shirt. She could see some left over grease that stained his hands. "Excuse me,"

"Ok...so where's my mom?" She needed answers, not small talk.

"Did you go to her home?"

"No why?" Nick let out a sigh of relief, "What's happened to this town? When I came through here, there was a statue in hills like the one they have in Brazil."

"A lot has changed Mary. I'm surprised you haven't recognised May over there," He said, leaning back as he gave his bushy beard a scratch.

"I did actually," Mary said as she glanced at May, her childhood friend, working behind the bar. _There's a lot that happened before she left Hope County._

"A year ago, there was a man called Joseph Seed who came here and created The Project at Eden's Gate, he's been telling people that God told him that the world is ending. He's been recruiting people for his little cult, preparing them for the end." He said raising his fingers to the word cult. Mary watched him and could tell that he wasn't happy about this Joseph Seed person. He rolled his eyes before speaking "Him and his family, they've been taking people, including your mom."

"Wait, you let them take her?"

"She left on her own accord. Ever since she was introduced to John Seed, she's been spending all her time with them. She used to come in her to all the time...now she hasn't been in here for months."

"Months?" _What has her mother been doing?_

"So why haven't you got her? Is something stopping you?" Mary asked, now more concerned for her mother's safety. If these people are hurting her…

"You don't understand Mary, these people, this family…they'll do anything to covert you and to make you stay in their cult."

Mary bit her lower lip, thinking. She had heard about cult leaders through her the news. From what she noticed, they seemed to be from ordinary backgrounds; historically, religious charlatans and con artists usually emerged from the poorer classes and used their charisma to attract followers, who in many cases supported them.

"Mary..." His eyes met hers and held it. "I can already see what you're thinking and I want you to stop." Mary raised her eyebrows at him. "These people are dangerous. We have people going missin' nearly every day now and I don't want anything bad happening to you-shit I shouldn't have got you to come here in the first place." Mary scoffed at him.

"It's too late for that now," Mary stood up and grabbed her belongings "Thanks for your help Nick but I'm going to find my mother by myself." Mary quickly finished her water before slamming the glass down and walked out of the bar.

She started walking down the street and was thinking of a plan to find this Joseph Seed. Mary let out a frustrated groan as she didn't have a clue on where to start. But it was if God was listening and something flew in Mary's face. She quickly pulled whatever it was off her face and looked at it. It was a flyer for Joseph Seed's group.

 ** _EDEN'S GATE_**

 ** _REVIVAL, JOIN US_**

 ** _Teller Ranch, 1pm_**

She silently thanked the Lord before walking off into that direction. Mary was going to find out what this group was all about and to find her mother.

* * *

 **Review if you want the next chapter?**

 **I changed Mary May to May just because my character is called Mary...saves the confusion.**

 **If you can answer this question that would be great - Have you played the game or watched the short film?**

 **-R**


	3. The Church

**People I am so sorry for not uploading - I just have a lot of projects happening at work so when I get home I'm like** ** _*collapses in bed*_**

 **We get to meet 2 heralds and of course Joseph.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter 2 - The Church**

* * *

After a while, Mary made it to the Teller Ranch, she took note of what type of people that was arriving to attend the sermon, as she walked past a few parked cars. They looked like normal people, there was a few with a more strung out appearance, in comparison to her.

She didn't want to draw too much attention to herself. Especially if they're dangerous as Nick said. Would they try to make her stay and become in the cult? She needed to know what's happened to her mother and she was going to find out now.

Mary pulled her cargo jacket on and ruffled her bantu knot curls; they might see her as vulnerable or someone that needed to be saved. She just needed to blend in, no way they were recruiting her to their cult. She wasted a minute looking in front of a car window before making a move towards the tent.

Walking past two men that stood at the entrance, she almost got the impression that this person was extremely important. Mary scoffed mentally. She looked down, not giving any eye contact and walk straight in, making a beeline to the seats that was at the back of the tent. She quickly looked around, making sure no one before pulling out her phone and checked to see if there were any messages.

 _Jack: 10 missed calls_

 _Jack: 20 text messages_

Mary scolded herself before quickly sending her friend a text, letting him know what's happened so far. As predicted he was not happy as she saw a read receipt on her message, her phone started vibrating.

"Jack before you star-" Mary said with a low voice but Jack overpowered it as she had pull the slightly away from her ear.

"What are in the hell are you doing Mary? I thought you was going to see where your mother was! Not hunt down the cult?!" Jack exclaimed, making Mary shake her head.

"I'm not doing that, I'm simply attending one of their _gatherings_ because there's probably a chance that my mom will be there," She said as she took another glance at the crowd. "Look the sermon is about to start and I haven't seen even her yet," She saw more and more people coming in and taking their seats. Mary had to budge further down her seat, almost going to the edge of the bench, due to the amount of people filling up the tent.

"You need to get out of there Mary, now," Mary furrowed her brows as she listened to him. "I...I just don't want anything bad happening to you, you're too speci-" Mary couldn't hear the rest of Jack's words as her phone was pulled from her ear. She turned to quickly grab back her phone but froze in disbelief when she saw the person standing in front of her.

It was her mom.

"It's about to begin, no cell phones during the sermon, Mary." Her mom simply said and just _walked_ away with her phone in her hand and took her seat at the front. Her eyes widened in amazement of how _different_ she looked. Her afro curls that Mary was used to seeing, was no more as it was transformed into long braids that fell down her face. But it was her eyes that she noticed first, those dark mocha eyes was _different_.

Mary was about to get up after her, when the tent opened beside the stage, and two bearded men drifted inside, one of them positioning themselves to the side and the other made their way to centre of the stage. Although she was sat at the back, the proximity did not affect her sight of taking note of the men that entered the tent. The man who stood to the side, wore a camouflage jacket and stood with a stern look on his face. The other man who made himself the direct in the middle of the stage, making himself known with his star blue open shirt and coffee brown vest jacket. He curiously scanned the audience, before his blue eyes ended up on Mary, which she quickly averted her eyes elsewhere. But Mary missed the look the two men shared and the smirks that grew upon their faces.

Now the tent was completely soundless; they'd all fallen silent to stare, including Mary. The man on the stage began to speak. "Hello, welcome everyone, my name is John and this is my brother Jacob." He motioned to the man called Jacob stood at the side, who nodded to the audience. "Now you are here because you are scared...scared because of what you see on the news, and what you hear on the radio."

Mary couldn't help but keep her attention on her mother who sat calmly, listening to John as he began his spiel. She looked around the tent and notice a large American flag hanging down, with a different design. Where the stars are usually placed was the cross and unique rays and stars that was combined. John was speaking to the audience but Mary wasn't paying any attention, she just wanted to speak to her mother. She needed to know what she has been doing these past months.

 _Who are these people?_

"Deception. Divisiveness. Godlessness. Who's in charge? Who is accountable?" John started slowing walking down the aisle, and all eyes trailed on him. "But there is an answer to that fear. That answer has a name, and that name… is Joseph Seed!" Suddenly a man entered the tent from the same side as the other two men entered.

Mary felt herself standing with everyone as they cheered and applauded for this man who she assumed was Joseph Seed. He walked onto stage and hug John, they looked much alike. However, Joseph was a little taller and more wider build, wore a grey suit jacket, paired with jeans and a shirt buttoned all the way to the collar.

People was in awe as Joseph stood before them, in contrast to their excitement, he looked calm and relaxed with his sandy brown hair neatly pushed back into a bun.

But Mary couldn't help to admit that he was handsome. _Handsome?_

"That's Joseph?" Mary could barely get the words out.

A blond haired woman sat beside Mary was smiling smugly. "That's him. That's The Father. Joseph."

 _No wonder why people join this cult._

"Thank you, my brother John." Joseph ushered John off the stage to stand beside Jacob. He turned to his audience before he began. "I want you to all close your eyes for a moment."

Mary watched everyone immediately followed his instructions but she chose to keep hers open. "I want you to think about the world outside this tent. And as you sit there alone in your personal darkness, can you see how sick our society has become? Can you picture disease creepin' across the land? Greed. War. Starvation. Because people have turned away from God."

Mary watched the man before her, it was almost as if he was channelling someone from another life. "And there is a hatred brewin'. It's like a slow-acting poison churning in our guts. So I ask you...when you think of that world, do you feel safe?" He asked his audience.

"No." They answered.

"No." Joseph repeated. "If somethin' is comin', you can feel it, can't you? You wake up in the morning, you turn on that television, you look at those news headlines and it's all fear and confusion and anger." Mary glanced to her left to see the woman clasping her hands together as she listened to Joseph. "See, we're like frightened animals, just creepin' toward the edge. But I'm here to tell you the suffering... well, that's a choice." Mary looked at him at this point but froze when she saw that he was looking straight at her. A half-smile curling his lip as he waited to regain her full attention, but there was something else to stare.

Mary looked away, glancing over her shoulder as though she was looking for someone, just so she'd have a moment to regain some self-composure. She didn't notice the people that was stood at the back, due to nowhere available to take a seat. _Maybe her mother said something to him?_

She turned back to see Joseph still had his eyes locked on her, but he really was looking at her, directly at her. More often than at anyone else within the tent. Mary knew she wasn't crazy because when she glanced sideways at the woman. For some reason, she was openly glaring at Mary. Okay, sure, Mary didn't really know why she was giving her the death glare, but her gut instinct was that she'd noticed her leader noticing her, and she didn't like it.

Mary looked down at her lap and tried not to let the smile appear on her lips. She felt a little flutter of excitement in her stomach. Immediately she tried to reason it away. Probably he was looking at Mary more often because she was a guest, a potential recruit, and someone knew to the town. So, she was of interest to him.

Mary brought her attention back to his speech just in time to hear him saying. "And you can choose a better path. We love you. We want you. We accept you exactly the way you are. Every single one of you. And I stand here asking you to join us, and you will find your peace with us." Mary sat up straighter and giving the impression she was paying better attention.

"I am your Father, and you are my children. And together, we will march to Eden's Gate." Joseph raised his hands in the air, as the audience applauded his speech. Joseph looked towards his loyal follower, Anne in the front row and nodded to her.

Anne gave him a knowing smile.

* * *

Mary stood by a random car as she watched people leave the tent after her. She scanned the people before she saw her mother come out with the John. Mary watched as her mother and John have a conversation, then Jacob and Joseph join in. Joseph grasped her face with his hands and place his forehead against hers.

 _That is not who her mom was._

But she couldn't help to admit that there was something about Joseph. She just couldn't decide what it is.

Mary shook her head and began to think of how she would approach this situation; she came here to see her mother. _Check_. Spoke no words to her. _Check_. Her mom now had her phone. _Chec-wait._ She frowned as she patted her front and back pockets and felt nothing. She let an annoyed sigh and mentally thought of a new plan, but someone interrupted her thoughts.

"Mary."

She quickly turned around to see her mom standing there before her. A warm smile was on Anne's wrinkled face, making Mary pulled her mom into her and wrapped her arms around her. It had been years since she had seen her.

"Mom, I..I can't believe it." Mary said as she pulled way from their hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you. W-Why didn't you talk to me back there?" Mary almost struggled to get her words out.

"The sermon was about to start, you know how I taught you not be rude." Mary rolled at her eyes. "I saw that." Anne playfully scolded, making Mary let out a small laugh.

"Ok, what has happened to you? I went to the bar and found out you've joined a cult? Is this it?" Mary asked her mother. Anne turned away and looked towards where The Father was stood, who watched their interaction intently.

"Did you like the sermon?" Anne ignored her question, making Mary become frustrated at her. "They're good people here, Mary."

"What? I mean I wasn't paying attention because I came here to see you." Mary answered, making a frown appear on her mom's face but she didn't notice as Mary's attention fell on a few people lingering nearby. "Can we talk somewhere private? Away from these people?" She asked as she looked to see a few people watching their interaction. She didn't need this unwanted attention.

Anne just stared at her, before turning away and began to walk down a path that lead into the mahogany-brown forest. "Come on, the house isn't far from here," Anne started walking towards a path that lead into woodland forest. Mary didn't question it as she followed, unware of the eyes that followed their move and slowly start to follow behind.

Mary and her mom fell into a synchronise step as they calmly walked through the forest. She looked over her mom and waited on her to say something to her but she never did.

"I'm so glad you came here Mary," Anne said, looking ahead. "I've been waiting a long time just to see you."

"What have you been up to mom?" Mary asked, looking at her. "What are you doing with those people?"

"The collapse is upon us, Mary." Anne said, making Mary's eyebrows raise. "But they have shown me that there is nothing to fear."

"Who? You mean that cult back there?" She pointed with her thumb in disbelief and her mom didn't answer. "Look we need to talk about this properly."

Mary looked ahead and could see they was approaching a gate that had cement blocks on either side. She noticed the familiar flag that she saw in the tent earlier and noticed familiar faces from the tent, stood behind the gate.

"What's this?" Mary said. "I didn't know you moved home?" Anne didn't respond and just kept walking. "You said you was taking us home." The gates opened for them and now becoming worried, Mary stopped walking. "Mom?"

Anne looked over at her daughter, taking her hand before she pulled her along with her towards the entrance. "I said we'll go home, but not that home hon." She nodded to the church members who took a glance a Mary before bowing their heads to her as they closed the gates after them. "This is our new home." Mary was more worried why they were holding guns, not the noticed this strange reaction to her arrival.

"They've put room aside for you." Mary looked at the house before her that her mom nodded to. "You'll be able to shower, rest which I'm sure you're tired. Plus, I think you could use a little time." Anne stroked her cheek softly.

"Time, time for what?" Mary pushed her hand away from her face. "I said I want to go home, not here. I never asked to come here. I don't want to be here. Take me back to the ranch, take me home mom." Mary didn't care that her voice was getting louder.

"You are home. There are people who want to meet you Mary. You are so special, we've been waiting for you to come. He knew you'd be coming." Anne said

"Who's he?"

"The Father. He wants to talk to you." Mary gave her mom a hard stare as she heard approaching footsteps behind her. "Just talk to him, that won't hurt no one."

"Mary." A familiar deep voice spoke behind her, making her turn around and her eyes widened.

* * *

 **It's all going to kick off in the next chapter! Will be uploaded next week.**

 **Review - Let me know your thoughts :)**

 **-R**


	4. Joseph Seed

**Thank you for your patience and again sorry for being late! I just wanted to make sure I get this chapter right.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

 **Chapter 3 - Joseph Seed**

* * *

"Mary."

She turned around to the voice that called her name and took a step back in shock when she came to face Joseph Seed, with many people surrounding her. Her eyes widened as she noticed that people was slowing walking towards her, forming a circle around her.

"W-what is this?" She asked and turn to look at her mom, who had the same smile on her face, since their reunion. "What is going on?"

"Welcome Mary, we've been waiting for your arrival." Joseph said, removing his sunglasses from his face, showing the true colour of his eyes. Blue. Mary stayed silent and observed everyone around her, noticing some of them held weapons in their hands. "Now, I understand you'll have questions, but I want you to know that we won't hurt you."

"Then why do those guys have guns?" Joseph followed where her green eyes was trained and it was on the men who had their hands on the guns that his brother Jacob provided. Joseph nodded to the men, who instantly let their hands fall by their sides.

"We have people that threaten what we believe in, shouldn't we be able to fight back, those who wish to harm us?" He asked Mary, who was still looking at everyone, trying to make sense of this situation.

Mary quickly tried to back out but softly collided with her mom who took hold of her hands. "Mom move aside."

"Now darling, we can be safe." Anne spoke as she pulled her daughter, bringing her closer to Joseph's side. "There is so much for planned for you within Eden's Gate."

"Wait wha-" Mary stopped as she saw Joseph signal two men over to her, who took a hold of her arms either side. She instantly tried to free herself from their hold but they gripped was too strong.

"Take her to the house, bring her to the room." Joseph said, the two men nodded at him. "I will talk to her soon."

Before Mary could protest, she was pushed her forwards towards one of the houses, that was larger than the rest. "Let me go! You can't do this. Mom, help me." She attempted to struggle against them as they dragged her away but no result in being free. "Let me go!"

Anne could hear her daughter call her which she ignored and turned to Joseph, who was still looking at her daughter. "They won't hurt her, will they?"

"Everyone knows Mary's purpose. She is not to be harmed." Anne smiled at Joseph reassurance, as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "We must move quickly, it won't be long before the end." Joseph reminded Anne and she made a move to go but she felt a Joseph still have a hold on her shoulder, making her turn and look at him.

"Prepare her." Anne nodded and walked away.

* * *

Mary was placed into a room and before she could make her escape the door was shut behind her. She tried to open the door but it was locked. She knocked on the door. "This is not right! What do you want from me?!"

"All will be explained soon Mary." A deep voice spoke and then all she heard was footsteps walking away, leaving her alone.

Mary let out a disgruntled sigh before she turned around and took in the room before her. From the obvious, it was a study; there was a desk and chair, bookcase and the American flag. No, it was that same altered flag hung pretty much everyone in this town and in this room.

Looking around his desk, she spotted the usually things people would have; lamp, papers, books, photo of herself, mug-wait, a photo of herself? Mary snatched the photo that was hidden under some papers and looked at it. It was her. She scanned the photo more and saw it was when she was in café down her street from her apartment block.

 _Have they been following me?_

She saw a piece of paper that was rolled and being held by a ribbon. Mary released the ribbon and began to read the scroll.

 **The Path to Eden's Gate**

I. The Call

Joseph Seed hears the voice. It calls on him to become a leader to give hope to wayward souls.

II. The Cleansing

Joseph Seed affirms his obedience to the Voice by cleansing himself with his own two hands, becoming born again.

III. The Father

Joseph See's message reaches the ears of his first true followers. They soon begin to call him their Father because of his great wisdom and guidance.

IV. The Revelation

The Voice reveals the coming Collapse, and the true purpose of Joseph's ministry; to save our souls from destruction and guide them to Eden's Gate.

V. The Family

Joseph Seed collects his blood family—John, Jacob, and Faith. He anoints them as his Herald so that they may help guide the growing family of believers.

VI. The Snakes

Joseph Seed is forced to defend his family from traitors and unbelievers they bring to Eden's Gate.

VII. The Homecoming

The Voice guides the Father to bring his disciples to Hope, the place destined to be our New Garden after the Collapse.

VIII. The Message

The Father and his Heralds begin to share their message with people of Hope, offering them salvation from the Collapse.

IX. The Sacrament

The Bliss is gifted to disciples who are too full of fear and doubt, elevating them to Angels who can better help prepare for the Collapse.

X. The Threshold

The Father prophecies that the coming of White Horse is the signal that the Collapse is near.

XI. The Reaping

Chaos swallows the Garden as the First Seal is broken. The heretics fight against the Family as we collect our final harvest of souls and materials goods.

XII. The Collapse-

"I'm sure your mom told you not to go through other people's things." Mary quickly turned around to see Joseph was standing at the door. _When did he even enter the room?_

"Well since I have no idea why I am here or why you have a photo of me?" Mary held the photo up so he could see, making him walk towards her. "What is this? Tell me, I want answers now."

Joseph arched his eyebrow at her and took the photo away from her and placed it on his desk. Mary watched him carefully, she didn't know this man before her. Who knows what he's capable of.

"Did you like the sermon?" Joseph said, as he leaned against the desk.

"Are you seriously asking me this right now?" Mary scoffed at his question but Joseph carried on.

"I didn't want it to run too long, I wanted it to be enough so you could understand what this project is about."

"It wasn't long it-wait you...knew I was coming?" Mary asked, in disbelief, making him look at her. "What is this place?" She asked more to herself but Joseph answered.

"This is my sanctuary, where people are aware of what has happened to the world." Joseph said to her, in that same charismatic way he spoke at the Ranch. "I can see that you may not believe me, but I your eyes sparked when I spoke of what the world has become. You can see that." Joseph pointed his finger at her before slowly walking to her. "That's why you are here, that's why we need here, I need you here...by my side."

Mary didn't realise that she had backed herself up against the door, but as she tried to move herself away, he already closed the distance between them. making her squirm slightly. "Are you scared of me?" He smirked at her.

She refused to answer; her only movement was to turn her head away from him. Holding Mary firmly by the chin he turned her face back to him.

"Look," Mary breathed. "You're making a mistake. You have the wrong person."

"No, I don't. It's you. It has always been you." Joseph whispered brushing his fingers against her plump lips, making her shiver. "You're so special…it just shines right off you."

"I don't understan-"

"I want you to become my wife Mary." He said. "I want to marry you Mary."

"Marry me?" She asked breathlessly, not able to think straight.

"Yes."

"Why?" Mary whispered, meeting his gaze evenly. "What is so special about me?" She asked him and was shocked when he grabbed her face with his hands and looked directly into her eyes.

"Mary, I can see it in your eyes. You are a compassionate woman yet when I look into your eyes. I see sadness, Mary's eyes hardened. "You yearn to not be alone, I can see it."

"No."

"You don't have to be alone anymore. You can become a part of The Family now." Joseph used his thumb to wipe under eye a fallen tear. _I'm crying?_

"I can't."

"No?" He repeated, slightly taken back at her answer. "Mary…you reject me?"

"Yes." Mary answered pushing Joseph back, shaking her head. "I-I don't even know you, w-why would you think I would marry you?" Mary looked at him directly and spoke. "I'm leaving and I'm taking my mom with me." She turned to opened the door.

"If you don't accept…there will be sacrifices that will come." Joseph warned, making her stop her actions.

"Sacrifices? Like what?"

"Your mother."

"What?" Mary let go of the door handle, slowly turning back to him. "You wou-"

"Anne has fought so hard to prove that she has been cleansed from her sins, she is very loyal." Mary noticed his eyes had somehow gone darker, more cobalt than a summer sea, and he placed his hands on my shoulders. "My followers will not hesitate on my command."

"Why me though?" She whispered, as another tear slipped from her eye, which he swiftly wiped away.

"You need understand how special you are Mary," He softly caressed her cheek, making her close her eyes. "God has chosen me to show people what the world is becoming and he has chosen you to be a part of this, with me." Mary opened her eyes at him, but looked down realising the situation.

"Remember...God is watching." He warned strongly and watch her carefully, he knew her mother is important to her. But God's plan must go ahead.

"Ok...I'll do it." Joseph smiled down at her with satisfaction and reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. Mary looked at what he was holding and saw him opening the box, revealing a small shiny ring. Her eyes widened at how beautiful the ring was, something so small but delicate. She only dreamed on this when she was child, in a different situation.

 _Being proposed to a cult leader…great._

Joseph noticed the small ruby ring that was laid on her left ring finger, making him smile inside. From what her mother had told him, she has remained pure until God placed the man who she was to be destined with until death. In this day of age, many succumb to their lust and he can admit he has sinned but God has truly blessed him with untouched woman. His smile appeared as he removed her ring and place that on her right ring finger and place his ring where her ring.

Mary watched as he leaned in, and she shut her eyes, thinking he was about to kiss her. The idea was both terrifying and delicious. Instead he whispered in her ear, "God will not let anyone take you from me."

* * *

It was later that Mary was taken to her new room that she was to occupy before the wedding that was happening tomorrow. Joseph announced it to his 'children' of the ceremony that was happening between them, which she smiled forcefully at the crowd. Mary sat on her bed and glanced around the room. She was glad that she didn't have to share the same bed as him so fast. Mary stayed true to her faith, although her father died when she was young. She knew she couldn't shut God out of her left, He was there when her time was needed. She still remembers the day she made her pledge her purity to God.

 _"I pledge my innocence unto Christ, the Saviour, until that day He sends my soul mate. I will not conform to this world and its fallen ways. By the grace of God, I will rise above. So here, to my parents, before this Church and our pastor, I take this oath of virginity until marriage."_

 _The thunderous applause sounded throughout the chapel as she finished her vows and placed a little ruby ring on her right ring finger. Mary looked towards her mother and father, who was sat in the front row with grins on their faces. She smiled back at them, finally achieving what she had learned when she had first learned about soul mates._

 _Little Mary knew where her destiny lie. From her training, she started when she was 10; her goal of each of her life was to marry a man who loved the Lord; he would_ _be her soul mate—the one whom God chose just for her._

 _Mary stepped off the stage and made her way toward her parents, my white dress and tiara casting an angelic glow around her. She glanced up toward the rectory, hoping that all her devotion to God would repay her. She saw the pastor walked to the pulpit, making everyone open their hymnals, following the organist in the strains of "Amazing Grace."_

Now in her 30s, this is what God had planned for her. She sadly looked down at the ring she accepted that replaced her purity ring. Mary understood that escape with such a small time frame was impossible and she knew Joseph thought of this.

She was not a kept woman. Now, Mary belonged to Joseph.

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts, Mary straightening herself out before answering. "Come in."

She saw her mother walked into her room and closed the door behind her. Mary sighed in relief but remembered what was happening to her.

"Are you ok Mary?" Anne opened her arms, which Mary moved towards her and embrace her mother's warmth that wrapped around her.

"No mom." She whispered softly, she still couldn't believe what was happening. Anne lifted her Mary's face to her eye level and saw tears started to fall her cheeks.

"What? What's happened?" Anne pulled her daughter to sit on her bed, taking her hand in hers. "Did he hurt you?"

"No mom but…" Anne waited for her to finished, her eyes showing concern. "He asked me to marry him." Mary watched a big smile appeared on her face, making her recoil from her slightly.

"I see you accepted," Mary looked away but to be pulled back as her mother gripped her face, "What's wrong?"

"I can't make sense of this. I'm being forced to marry someone I don't know but has clearly been stalking me." Anne looked away. "He kept saying that God has plans for me, but what?" Mary exclaimed at her mother. "I just want to go home."

"Those photos are of what I asked for." Anne paused but carried on when she saw the look of disbelief on her daughter's face. "When you left Hope County, I hardly saw you and with your studies, work. Joseph knew of my worries and every now and then he would send someone out to Pasadena and watch over you."

"Why didn't you come see me yourself?"

"Mary when you left, I fell into a deep place, a place where I never want to go again, I turned to the bottle to forget the pain but I knew I couldn't go on like this." Mary place her hands ontop of her mothers as she listened to her confession. "That's when I met John and he showed me the way." Mary watched as her mother opened her blouse and couldn't help but let out a gasp at the sight of her chest.

"He taught me the power of saying yes. Yes to my sin" Mary couldn't help but reach towards her chest and traced over the tattooed flesh. 'Gluttony' she saw but the word had been crossed out. "Only then, I could reach the atonement."

"Mom why would you let them do this? Is this what they do to you for your sins?" Mary couldn't believe at what her mother showed her. "This is why we can't stay here. We need to leave here, come on." Although she looked well but she knew that they both could not stay here.

Anne face hardened and Mary instantly regretted saying those words. Her brown eyes seemed to have darkened as she grabbed her forearms with a tight grip. "M-mom?"

"Mary, I am only going to say this once, you are not leaving this place."

"But-" She tried to speak but winced at the feel of her nails digging into her skin. She tried to escape her clasp but failed.

"Don't let me repeat myself, understand?"

Mary stayed silent as she could not believe how her mother was acting.

"Understand?"

"Yes mother."

"Good. Now tomorrow morning, you need to be washed."

"Washed?" She scoffed as she rubbed her arms soothingly. "I'm not 10 mom."

"Yes, you need to wash."

"What do you mean?"

"You need to wash yourself in the water. You need you cleanse."

"Mom," she said. "You're scaring me."

"There's no need to be scared darling." She said and took her daughter face in her own hands. "Get some rest, it's an important day tomorrow." With that, she left the room, locking it behind her and leaving Mary alone to her thoughts.

Mary brought her hands to her face, trying not to let out a cry. There was no room in trying to escape. The windows were barred and the door was locked from the outside. There were no secret panels or rooms. Mary was a prisoner now.

After she tucked herself into her bed, she reached to turn off the bedside lamp but noticed a small black leather book that have the same symbol engraved onto the front. She picked it up and opened it was the bible. _Maybe her mother left it for me?_ She opened the first page to see a handwritten message for her.

' _I want you to prepare yourself Mary. You still do not see what we want to show everyone. Please read this and I hope you understand what is planned for us._

 _God has a plan for everyone, especially you._

 _Joseph'_

Mary laid back on her pillow and began to read the book, she at least needed to know what she was dealing with. Especially being forced to marry the 'leader of the flock'. Mary let out a laugh as she turned over the first page. Though what she didn't realise is that she could not put the book down and began to become engrossed by the words that was in the book.

* * *

 **Question – do you think there's going to be a sequel to the game?**

 **I'm not sure if anyone of you saw 'The Path of Eden's Gate', but there are 13 plaques in the game and I feel like that's the hint. I hope there is!**

 **Review!**


	5. Author's Note - new chapter soon

p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So... It's been a while...br /br /I want to say sorry that I haven't uploaded any chapters to this. So much has happened within these couple of months. I got trapped on a train in London so I injured my arm :( then my dog (my best friend) got ill and looked after him until I found out he was terminally ill so I had to put him down the next day. br /br /span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"So yeah...it's not been good. Not a good couple of months./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Uploads for this are not gonna be scheduled. Still processing everything you know./span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"But you should expect an upload within the first few days of September (maybe 2..?)/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Thanks for everyone that is staying tuned to this story. I want to finish this so bear with me!/span/p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p  
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"R/span/p 


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